The typical dental lounge or chair includes a source of clean water and sometimes other liquids as well. The water is used to irrigate, rinse and cleanse a patient's mouth during most dental procedures. The water must be sanitary and is supplied to a variety of dental instruments through various conduits within or adjacent to the dental chair. Frequently the supply of water has been provided directly from the building water main. An example of such a system is disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 3,143,803, entitled DENTAL LOUNGE UNIT, issued on May 11, 1962 to Lunn. The use of multiple chemicals complicates matters as multiple reservoirs must be filled, accesses by means of valves, pressurized and periodically cleaned. The inherent complexity of such a system is illustrated in U.S. Pat. No. 3,718,973, entitled DENTAL SYSTEM, issued on Mar. 6, 1973 to Slater et al.
As dental technology has progressed the sanitation of such systems has been questioned and the requirement for cleaning dental instrumentation has become more urgent. The use of multiple solution reservoirs and permanent conduit supply systems requires elaborate cleaning procedures. An example of such a device is disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 6,250,920, entitled PURGE SYSTEM FOR FLUSHING AND DISINFECTING DENTAL UNITS, issued on Jun. 26, 2001 to Overmyer.
In order to improve and simplify operatory cleanliness, systems involving large liquid reservoirs and elaborate valve and conduit paths have given way to the widespread use of bottled water and other dental solutions. By placing the water or solution in a bottle not only is cleanliness improved, but the dental chair and its associated equipment may be readily moved within the operatory without the need to connect to a central water supply line or reservoir system. An example of such a bottled water system is disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 6,406,294, entitled SELF CONTAINED DENTAL CHAIR WITH INTEGRATED COMPRESSOR AND VACUUM PUMP AND METHODS, issued on Jun. 18, 2002 to Bell.
Use of bottled water has, however, proved problematical in practice. First, most bottles are interconnected to the dental instrumentation via a threaded coupling. Typically, the bottle opening or neck is threaded and can be screwed directly onto or into the coupling. The bottle is usually in a vertical orientation and the coupling is rigidly affixed to the dental chair or an adjacent panel, requiring the user to align the bottle with the coupling and rotate the bottle for a number of revolutions in order to create a water tight connection.
In order to reduce the number of times that a bottle must be changed during a given day or week, the bottles have tended to be large, heavy duty containers. A larger bottle tends to defeat the goal of sanitation insofar as the container, once breached for use, remains in the ambient environment for a longer period of time and thus subject to contamination. Further, such a container when filled with water becomes increasingly awkward to align and fasten to a fixed, threaded coupling. The use of a quick disconnect fitting has been implemented, but such fittings invariably mate with a standardized, relatively small diameter coupling which is subjected to relatively greater stresses since the quick disconnect coupling requires the application of some added impulse of force in order to accomplish the actual mating or disengagement of the quick disconnect feature.
Most bottles are constructed of a translucent material. Even if the bottles are constructed of an optically clear material, in use the bottles are usually shielded somewhat from the normal room illumination by a shelf or panel, and so determining the water level within the bottle is often a challenge. While direct examination of the bottle is usually sufficient to determine the water level, a casual glance or peripheral view is often not enough to alert the practitioner that the water level is low enough to require replacement of the bottle.
A need therefore exists for a water bottle system that permits the use of a relatively small bottle that may be quickly installed and removed without introducing large stresses on a fixed, small diameter coupling. Further, a simple and reliable means of determining the liquid level is required so that the contents of the smaller capacity bottle are not permitted to be completely consumed while performing a dental procedure.